Late Night Talks
by iris129
Summary: "It shouldn't be like this. She hadn't seen her son in more than a decade. There should be plenty to talk about." Tobias and Loren share a night of nightmares and awkward silences in the Hork-bajir Valley.


**Just a little something for mother's day. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs.**

((No! Noooo! Let me go!))

Loren instantly shot up out of her bed which was really just a used mattress that was probably bought in some garage sale. Not that she was complaining.

It was dark. Really dark. Dark enough that for a second she panicked, thinking that she was blind again, but no. She could faintly make out the stars shielded by swaying branches through what could be called a window, but was really just a hole on the wall. And perched on it was a hawk, who was currently flapping his wings madly. Her son.

((AAAAH! STOP IT!)) There was no danger in sight, so he was obviously having a nightmare. She knew that the other kids, the other Animorphs, had them as well. She had heard the other parents whispering and worrying amongst each other, and they told her that the nightmares were always bad and that the kids woke up almost in tears. She'd just never been around to see it.

She was glad her home/tree house was relatively isolated on the edge of the valley, or else everybody would have heard his screams.

"Tobias?" she whispered, approaching the hawk slowly, trying not to startle him. She knew he hated that. That was one of the few things she knew about him. "Tobias?"

Suddenly she could see piercing, yellow eyes glaring at her. ((Rachel?)) he whispered shakily in her head. Then, ((Oh.)) There was a pause. ((Sorry for waking you.))

"It's okay. Don't worry about it." More awkward silence. For a moment she thought of how the other parents didn't have to go through this. They could talk to their children about anything and everything, and here she was, barely able to speak a few words to hers.

Tobias seemed to be straightening his feathers with his beak. Preening, he called it. She noticed that he did it a lot when he was with her. It seemed to be a nervous habit of his.

"Does this happen often?" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself, and she instantly regretted them.

((What?)) he asked.

"You waking up in the middle of the night screaming bloody murder."

((Oh)) he said. She could have sworn he looked visibly uncomfortable, if a hawk could do that. Though it might have been her eyes playing tricks on her, and she couldn't really see very well in the dark, anyway. ((Sometimes. Not very often.)) For some reason, she didn't believe him. ((Though usually I'm in the forest, so I don't wake anybody up.))

She heard what he didn't say. He was usually _alone _in the forest where nobody was around to hear him. Where nobody was around to comfort him. He didn't meant it like that, of course. He was too kind for that. Sometimes, she wished he wasn't. Sometimes she wished he would just lash out at her and blame her for everything. Then maybe their interactions wouldn't just be filled with awkward silences.

Again, she didn't know what to say. "Do you have any mission today?"

((Yeah, actually. Ax and I are on lookout duty for most of the day.))

"Oh." More silence. Loren almost screamed in frustration. It shouldn't be like this. She hadn't seen her son in more than a decade. There should be plenty to talk about. His childhood. His past. Maybe her past. Moments during the war. His friends. His girlfriend. He hadn't told her he and Rachel were dating, but it was obvious. Naomi had even come up to her and confronted her about it, saying that as long Tobias didn't do anything to hurt her daughter, she was okay with their relationship.

((I should probably leave now,)) he said, looking outside.

"But it's still not morning," Loren protested, a bit disappointed that he didn't want to be her.

((I know. But Ax is probably worried since I didn't go back with him after the mission.)) No, he had come to reassure her that the mission had turned out okay, instead. Then she had asked him to stay for the night, and he reluctantly agreed. ((Besides, I'm probably not going to be able to go back to sleep, anyway,)) he added quietly.

He turned to leave, but she got a hold of his wing. "Wait," she said. "You should come back again tonight."

((But... I'll probably wake you up again,)) he said a little shyly. ((Nightmares.))

"I don't mind," Loren said quickly.

He looked at her for a second. And she knew that if he had been human, he would have been smiling. ((Okay. I'd like that.))


End file.
